Kimi K3 (Max) vs Kimi K3 (Low)
Which is better for the money: Kimi K3 (Max) by Kimi or Kimi K3 (Low) by Kimi? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Kimi K3 (Max) scores 13.5 points higher (43.6 vs 30.1) but costs 3.1× as much to run the benchmark ($3658 vs $1190; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Kimi K3 (Max) when you need intelligence above 30.1, and Kimi K3 (Low) when 30.1 is enough.
| Metric | Kimi K3 (Max) | Kimi K3 (Low) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 43.6 | 30.1 | −31.0% Kimi K3 (Low) is 31.0% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $3,658.07 | $1,190.42 | −67.5% Kimi K3 (Low) is 67.5% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 63.08s | 66.33s | +5.2% Kimi K3 (Low) is 5.2% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $3.00 / $15.0 | $3.00 / $15.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Kimi K3 (Low) vs Kimi K3 (Max): 31.0% less intelligence, 67.5% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 5.2% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Kimi K3 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
- Kimi K3 (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Kimi K3 (Max)Kimi K3 (Low)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/kimi-k3/kimi-k3-low · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/kimi-k3/kimi-k3-low?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill